Claudio Masciovecchio

Working address: Sincrotrone Trieste, 34012 Basovizza, Trieste, Italy

Date and Place of birth: 24/12/1968 in L'Aquila, Italy
e-mail: claudio.masciovecchio@elettra.eu


Claudio Masciovecchio is currently the general Director of the FERMI free electron laser, a user facility that attracts scientist worldwide to carry out research at the cutting edge in the fields of chemistry, physics and biology.

Education
March 1993. Laurea in Physics, Summa cum Laude, University of L'Aquila. Advisor: Prof. F. De Pasquale. Thesis title: The non-linear electron-phonon interaction.
October 1998. PhD in Physics, Très honorable avec félicitations, University J. Fourier of Grenoble. Advisor: Prof. J. F. Legrand. Thesis title: The inelastic x-ray scattering as a new technique to investigate the dynamics of glass forming systems.

Scientific Achievements and Scientific Leadership
C. Masciovecchio is an internationally recognised experimental physicist with a scientific record comprising more than 250 publications (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=Pw24H5sAAAAJ&hl=en) in peer-reviewed journals and over 100 invited and plenary lectures at international conferences. His research has covered a broad range of scientific fields, reflecting his ability to develop and apply advanced photon-based techniques to address diverse scientific challenges. His internationally recognised scientific contributions include:
Dynamics of disordered systems, including liquids, supercooled liquids, glasses and polymers; Matter under extreme thermodynamic conditions, including studies of high-pressure and metastable states; Soft matter and complex materials, investigating structure and dynamics across multiple length and time scales; Biological systems, through the application of advanced spectroscopic approaches to biomolecular and biomedical questions; Surface and interface science, exploring the properties and dynamics of nanoscale systems; Free-electron laser science, including the development and application of novel ultrafast X-ray and nonlinear optical techniques. This breadth of scientific experience, together with a sustained involvement in the development of advanced experimental methods and facilities, has provided C. Masciovecchio with a broad understanding of the scientific communities served by large-scale photon-science infrastructures and of the opportunities that arise at the interface between scientific questions, emerging technologies and new experimental capabilities.

Photon-Science Instrumentation Development
C. Masciovecchio has extensive experience in the design, construction, and exploitation of advanced instrumentation for condensed matter research, biology, and chemistry at major photon-science facilities. His work encompasses the development of high-resolution X-ray and ultraviolet spectroscopies, laser-based techniques, and free-electron laser instrumentation. Major achievements include the design and construction of the high-resolution analyser station for the Inelastic X-ray Scattering beamline ID16 at ESRF, which achieved a world-record energy resolution; the development of the Inelastic UltraViolet Scattering (IUVS) beamline at Elettra, providing unique capabilities for high-resolution inelastic scattering at 10 eV photon energy; the establishment of laser laboratories for transient-grating spectroscopy and UV resonance Raman scattering at Elettra; and the design and construction of two beamlines at the FERMI FEL facility dedicated primarily to nonlinear optics and time-resolved absorption experiments. This track record demonstrates a sustained ability to translate challenging scientific questions into innovative experimental capabilities, combining scientific vision with the technical expertise required to develop, construct, and commission complex instrumentation for major international research infrastructures.

International Awards and Honors
1) Kai Siegbahn prize was awarded to Claudio Masciovecchio at the University of Uppsala on September the 10th 2012. The aim of the Prize was: To recognize and encourage outstanding experimental achievement in synchrotron radiation research with a significant component of instrument development.
2)The 2015 Innovation Award on Synchrotron Radiation has been given to Claudio Masciovecchio and his group from Elettra - Sincrotrone Trieste. Their work on "First transient grating experiment in the soft X-ray range at the FERMI free-electron laser by exploitation of the coherent and multi-wave nature of the four-wave mixing process" has demonstrated the new potentialities of the worldwide first seeded free electron laser for soft X-rays FERMI.
3) The 2016 Bruker-SILS Outstanding Scientist Award was given to Claudio Masciovecchio in recognition of his contribution for the development of synchrotron and FEL radiation techniques.
4) In 2025 Claudio Masciovecchio has being elected a Fellow Member of Optica specifically For seminal contributions to the instrumentation for ultraviolet to x-ray scattering and non-linear spectroscopy that solved fundamental questions in materials science
5) In 2025 Claudio Masciovecchio has being elected a Fellow Member of the International Engineering and Technology Institute (IETI)

Editorial Roles
Since 2022 - Editor of Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research - section A (NIMA)

Relevant Pubblications
[1] F. Sette, G. Ruocco, M. Krisch, U. Bergmann, C. Masciovecchio, V. Mazzacurati, G. Signorelli and R. Verbeni “Collective Dynamics in Water by High Energy Resolution Inelastic X-Ray Scattering” - Phys. Rev. Lett. 75, 850 (1995).
[2] C. Masciovecchio, U. Bergmann, M. Krisch, G. Ruocco, F. Sette and R. Verbeni “A Perfect Crystal X-Ray Analyzer with meV Energy Resolution” - Nucl. Instr. and Meth. B111, 181 (1996).
[3] G. Ruocco, F. Sette, U. Bergmann, M. Krisch, C. Masciovecchio, V. Mazzacurati, G. Signorelli and R. Verbeni “Equivalence of the Sound Velocity in Water and Ice at Mesoscopic Wavelengths” - Nature 379, 521 (1996).
[4] C. Masciovecchio, G. Ruocco, F. Sette, M. Krisch, R. Verbeni, U. Bergmann, M. Soltwisch “Observation of Large Momentum Phononlike Modes in Glasses” - Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 3356 (1996).
[5] C. Masciovecchio, G. Monaco, G. Ruocco, F. Sette, A. Cunsolo, M. Krisch, A. Mermet, M. Soltwisch R. Verbeni “High Frequency Dynamics of Glass-Forming Liquids at the Glass Transition” - Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 544 (1998).
[6] F. Sette, G. Ruocco, M. Krisch, C. Masciovecchio, G. Monaco “Dynamics of Glass-Forming Liquids Studied by Inelastic X-Ray Scattering” - Science 280, 1550 (1998).
[7] C. Masciovecchio, A. Mermet, G. Ruocco, and F. Sette “Experimental Evidence of the Acousticlike Character of the High Frequency Excitations in Glasses “- Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 1266 (2000).
[8] C. Masciovecchio, S. C. Santucci, A. Gessini, S. Di Fonzo, G. Ruocco, and F. Sette “Structural Relaxation in Liquid Water by Inelastic UV Scattering” - Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 255507 (2004).
[9] C. Masciovecchio, G. Baldi, S. Caponi, L. Comez, S. DiFonzo, D. Fioretto, A. Fontana, A. Gessini, S. C. Santucci, F. Sette, G. Viliani, P. Vilmercati, G. Ruocco “Evidence of a Crossover in the Frequency dependence of the Acoustic Attenuation in Vitreous Silica” – Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 035501-1 (2006).
[10] R. Cucini, F. Bencivenga, C. Masciovecchio “All-reflective femtosecond optical pump-probe set-up for Transient Grating spectroscopy”- Opt. Lett. 36, 1032 (2011).
[11] L. Comez, G. Monaco, C. Masciovecchio, A. Paciaroni, A. Gessini, F. Scarponi, G. Ruocco, D. Fioretto “Acoustic dissipation and density of states in liquid, supercooled, and glassy glycerol” – Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 155701 (2011).
[12] E. Principi, R. Cucini, A. Filipponi, A. Gessini, F. Bencivenga, F. D’Amico, A. Di Cicco, and C. Masciovecchio “Determination of the Ion Temperature in a Stainless Steel Slab Exposed to Intense Ultrashort Laser Pulses”- Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 025005 (2012).
[13] F. Bencivenga, F. Capotondi, E. Principi, M. Kiskinova and C. Masciovecchio “Coherent and transient states studied with extreme ultraviolet and X-ray free electron lasers: Present and future prospects” Adv. in Physics 63, 327 (2015).
[14] F. Bencivenga, R. Cucini, F. Capotondi, A. Battistoni, R. Mincigrucci, E. Giangrisostomi, A. Gessini, M. Manfredda, I.P. Nikolov, E. Pedersoli, E. Principi, C. Svetina, P. Parisse, F. Casolari, M. B. Danailov, M. Kiskinova, C. Masciovecchio, “Four-wave mixing experiments with extreme ultraviolet transient gratings” – Nature 520, 205 (2015).
[15] B. Rossi, V. Venuti, F. D'Amico, A. Gessini, F. Castiglione, A. Mele, C. Punta, L. Melone, V. Crupi, D. Majolino, F. Trotta, C. Masciovecchio, “Water and polymer dynamics in a model polysaccharide hydrogel: The role of hydrophobic/hydrophilic balance” – PCCP 17, 963 (2015).
[16] B. Rossi, V. Venuti, A. Mele, C. Punta, L. Melone, F. D'Amico, A. Gessini, V. Crupi, D. Majolino, F. Trotta, C. Masciovecchio “Vibrational signatures of the water behaviour upon confinement in nanoporous hydrogels” - PCCP 18, 12252 (2016).
[17] M. Altissimo, M. Kiskinova, R. Mincigrucci, L. Vaccari , C. Guarnaccia and C. Masciovecchio “Perspective: A toolbox for protein structure determination in physiological environment through oriented, 2D ordered, site specific immobilization“- Struct. Dyn. 14, 044017 (2017).
[18] R. Mincigrucci, M. Kowalewski, J. R. Rouxel, F. Bencivenga, S. Mukamel and C. Masciovecchio "Impulsive UV-pump/X-ray probe study of vibrational dynamics in glycine" Scientific Reports 8, 15466 (2018).
[19] F. Bencivenga, R. Mincigrucci, F. Capotondi, L. Foglia, D. Naumenko, A.A. Maznev, E. Pedersoli, A. Simoncig, F. Caporaletti, V. Chiloyan, R. Cucini, F. Dallari, R.A. Duncan, T.D. Frazer, G. Gaio, A. Gessini, L. Giannessi, S. Huberman, H. Kapteyn, J. Knobloch, G. Kurdi, N. Mahne, M. Manfredda, A. Martinelli, M. Murnane, E. Principi, L. Raimondi, S. Spampinati, C. Spezzani, M. Trovò, M. Zangrando, G. Chen, G. Monaco, K.A. Nelson, C. Masciovecchio “Nanoscale transient gratings excited and probed by extreme ultraviolet femtosecond pulses” Science Advances 5, 5805 (2019).
[20] M. Pachetti, B. Marini, F. Benedetti, F. Giudici, E. Mauro, P. Storici, C. Masciovecchio, S. Angeletti, M. Ciccozzi, R. C Gallo, D. Zella, R. Ippodrino “Emerging SARS-CoV-2 mutation hot spots include a novel RNA-dependent-RNA polymerase variant” - Journal of Translational Medicine 18, 179 (2020).
[21] M. Pachetti, F. D’Amico, L. Pascolo, S. Pucciarelli, A. Gessini, P. Parisse, L. Vaccari, C. Masciovecchio “UV Resonance Raman explores protein structural modification upon fibrillation and ligand interaction” - Biophysical Journal 120, 4575 (2021).
[22] M. Chergui, M. Beye, S. Mukamel, C. Svetina, C. Masciovecchio “Progress and prospects in nonlinear extreme-ultaviolet and X-ray optics and spectroscopy” – Nature Physics Review 5, 578 (2023).
[23] E. Paltanin, J.S. Pelli Cresi, E. Principi, W. Lee, F. Bencivenga, D. De Angelis, L. Foglia, D. Garzella, G. Kurdi, M. Manfredda, D. Naumenko, A. Simoncig, S.. K. Cushing, R. Mincigrucci and C. Masciovecchio “Time-resolved chemically-selective spectroscopic investigation of the redox reaction between hematite and aluminium” – Nat. Communication 16, 7282 (2025).
[24] F. D’Amico, S. Gomez, C. Stani, G. Birarda, C. Masciovecchio “Evaluation of 5-Methylcytidine Presence in Aqueous Nucleotide Mix Solutions by Means of Ultraviolet Resonant Raman Spectroscopy” - ACS Applied Optical Materials 4, 2048 (2026).